Forever Young
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: During a magical mishap, Cedric and Greylock both turn into little kids again. To keep them out of trouble, Baileywick begrudgingly looks after them while Sofia, Amber, and James try to figure out how to get the sorcerers back to normal.
1. Half-Pint Sorcerers

Forever Young

Summary: During a magical mishap, Cedric and Greylock both turn into little kids again. To keep them out of trouble, Baileywick begrudgingly looks after them while Sofia, Amber, and James try to figure out how to get the sorcerers back to normal.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Sofia the First!"

A/N: This should be my last "little" Cedric story for a long time! Lol. I know, he's cute as a kid, but I prefer to keep him his normal age. But I literally could not get one particular scene out of my head, so this _had_ to be written. Enjoy!

"Ooh, what does this do?" Greylock asked as he picked up a bottle of what he assumed was perfume, observing it curiously.

Cedric yelped and waved his hands. "Put it down, Greylock!"

The other sorcerer smirked and rolled his eyes. "Oh, lighten up, _Ceddy-kins_." He placed the bottle onto the table to avoid an outburst from his friend/rival.

The Enchancian sorcerer growled under his breath before sighing. "I knew I never should have told you about that…"

Sofia giggled as she leaned against the table. "Mr. Cedric, I think we should probably go now. Baileywick said you two needed to meet him outside."

"Right, right. Come along, Greylock." He brushed his bangs aside and folded his arms. "Not that I don't trust you in my workshop, but… I just don't trust you period."

Greylock pouted, a pathetic look on his face. "Now that really hurt, Cedric! I'm merely being observant…and my keen eye noticed that you have an extra jar of poppy oil hiding behind all these vials." He grinned as he turned back to the aforementioned vials.

Cedric glared at him cautiously. "Well, you can't have it," he scolded, causing his friend to look at him in disappointment. "Last time you had poppy oil in your possession, you made our teacher fall asleep for a week!"

The brown-haired sorcerer chuckled proudly. "You should thank me. Professor Josephine was a bit of a stick in the mud anyway."

"Did you two get into a lot of trouble when you were younger?" Sofia asked curiously as she led them down the stairs.

"No." "Yes."

The sorcerers exchanged glances, eyebrows raised at each other.

"Well, _I_ wasn't getting in trouble much," Cedric defended as he folded his arms. "You may have been in trouble while around me, but that doesn't mean I had anything to do with that."

Greylock shot him a pointed look. "Two words: 'Merlin's Museum.'"

Cedric glared back at him, a soft sound of disappointment escaping his throat.

Sofia turned toward them as they neared the end of the staircase. "What happened at Merlin's Museum?" she wondered.

"Oh, I'd be delighted to tell you, Princess Sofia!" Greylock grinned energetically, making Cedric sigh in annoyance. "You see, when we were about ten years old, our professor decided to take our class to the museum to study Merlin and his history with magic. However, Cedric here wanted to emulate the man so badly that he _dressed up_ like Merlin, stole his father's Family Wand for the occasion (which I hear got him grounded for a year, no less), and put a sleeping spell on all of the staff at the museum."

The princess blinked at her mentor in surprise. "You really did all of that, Mr. Cedric?"

He shrugged. "Admittedly, not one of my proudest moments…" He huffed. "Especially when my father found out about the Family Wand and gave me a grounding I'll never forget. Naturally, I became a bit of a model student after that and never got grounded again." He side glanced his friend with a smirk. "Greylock, on the other hand…"

"Eh, what can I say? Grownups have no sense of humor."

As the trio reached the hallway, James and Amber approached their sister.

"Sofia," Amber began pleasantly, making the auburn-haired girl slightly wary already, "my, you look so pretty today. Doesn't she, James?"

"Oh, yeah," he added, though he was nervously looking around. "Even Cedric looks pretty today."

Cedric blinked while Greylock snickered behind his hand. "Um…well, thank you, Prince James… I think."

"Huh?" The prince laughed before looking toward them sheepishly. "I—I mean, uh…"

The youngest princess observed their behavior and frowned. "What did you two do?"

Amber rolled her eyes and took hold of Sofia's arm. "Sofia, you're always helping people out, right?"

"I…guess?" She was still utterly confused as to what was going on.

"So would you be willing to help James and me out for just a teensy-weensy second?" She started tugging her down the hall, much to the younger girl's dismay.

"No! Amber, whatever it is, it needs to wait. Baileywick is waiting on Mr. Cedric, Mr. Greylock, and me." She pulled her arm from the older girl's grip and moved over to her mentor, practically hiding behind him now.

Amber shrugged. "Fine. I guess we'll just work on the repair spell later. Hopefully Daddy doesn't get back too soon to see the mess James made in the kitchen…" She smiled apologetically as Sofia gaped at her.

"Are you going somewhere?" James asked, interested in their possible travels and glossing over the fact that he'd just been accused of yet another mess in the castle.

" _We_ are traveling to Rudistan," Cedric corrected while ushering Sofia from behind him and placing one hand on her head. "Princess Sofia is staying here, whether she likes it or not."

"Aw, Mr. Cedric, I could be a big help though!"

Amber raised an eyebrow at her. "What exactly are you two doing that Sofia can't go along?"

"Basically we are doing a run-through with the castle to make sure Slickwell didn't leave anything dangerous or spell-ridden behind," Greylock responded as he twirled his wand. "I mean, the man got his greedy little hands on a clumsy spell pin, so who's to say he didn't have something else laying around?"

James frowned in confusion. "Shouldn't you guys have done that like months ago?"

"We should have," Cedric conceded, "but I'm afraid our schedules just simply didn't match up; and Greylock is practically helpless without me." He grinned.

Sofia folded her arms. "And they won't let me go because they think it'll be 'too dangerous.' But I've done lots of things before that were dangerous, and I've been all right."

"And how many are your mother and father unaware of?" The Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia nodded as his apprentice gave him a reproachful look. "That's what I thought. I can't have you getting hurt or something, so I'm afraid my answer is no. You need to stay here this time."

She sighed. "Fine, Mr. Cedric… I'll stay here."

Greylock grinned toward the other sorcerer. "Well, perhaps before we leave, we should take a look at this so-called mess Prince James seems to have made, eh? We could possibly help the poor lad out so that he doesn't get into trouble."

James grinned up at the brown-haired man. "And I now have a _new_ favorite sorcerer!"

Cedric gave the young boy a pointed look. "I'll remember that."

The quintet approached the kitchen, which indeed did look rather disastrous. Pots and pans were dented and lying on the ground. Bags of flour had been overturned and were ripped. The walls were stained with what Cedric hoped was tomato sauce…

"What happened?" Sofia asked with wide eyes.

"Rex," the twins answered together.

"But if James hadn't thrown the ball in the castle," Amber explained, garnering looks of realization from the other three, "then none of this ever would have happened."

"I didn't know it was going to bounce in here," the boy defended with a pouting face. He glanced toward the sorcerers. "Can you fix this for me…please? I'm already on my last chance, and I can't be grounded before our birthday… That would be really bad."

"Oh, I don't know." The blonde girl smiled and folded her arms. "I could finally get all the presents to myself."

Sofia gave the girl a disapproving look. "Amber."

"What?"

Deciding to have mercy on the boy, Cedric and Greylock worked together and got the kitchen back into working order. It looked as if nothing had ever happened, which made the young prince very happy and grateful.

"Thank you!" He beamed up at the sorcerers. "You guys are the best."

"We know," Greylock answered playfully, adjusting his monocle. "All right, Cedric, we really must be off now. We're losing daylight."

Cedric nodded as he followed Greylock, the three children following them out of interest perhaps.

Once outside, Baileywick sighed in relief as the royal sorcerers approached him. "Finally," he breathed, his arms folded. "I was about to send a search party after you two."

"Aw, you do care," Cedric returned sarcastically, smirking at the steward rolled his eyes. "Good to know. Okay, you three stay here and out of trouble, Sofia."

Amber tilted her head. "Baileywick is going with you?"

"I asked him to come along as a non-magical accomplice," Greylock explained. "Perhaps if we find something else of Slickwell's, then he could test it out for us."

"So Baileywick is your guinea pig," James remarked, laughing.

The steward sighed, rubbing his forehead. "It would seem that way…"

Sofia moved forward and hugged Cedric, surprising him a bit. "Be careful," she told him, looking up at him worriedly.

He smiled and returned her hug gently. "We will be. I promise. And keep your brother away from the kitchen."

She giggled and nodded as she released him.

Cedric glanced toward Greylock. "Before we go, perhaps we should put a protective barrier over the castle, especially since none of us will be here with the children."

Greylock nodded. "You have a point."

With a spell carefully spoken and the castle guarded by magic, the two sorcerers exchanged satisfied glances.

"So that means no bad guys coming in, right?" Amber clarified with her hands on her hips. "No Miss Nettle, no Slickwell, no strange bad guy wannabes out for revenge?"

Greylock chuckled. "That's right, Princess Amber. You'll all be safe and sound, or my name isn't Greylock the Grand!"

Cedric rolled his eyes and glanced at the three royals, his face an expression of concern. "Before we go, Greylock, I think it would be best to put a spell over the children to protect _them_ as well…"

James laughed nervously. "Uh, Cedric, not that I doubt your ability to 'protect' us or whatever, but considering your history with spells gone wrong…"

Amber rolled her eyes. "James, have a little faith. I'm sure Cedric knows that a miscast spell on us would only be detrimental to him." She smiled at the sorcerer, who now appeared somewhat annoyed. "Go ahead, Cedric."

"Hmph… Very well." He lifted his wand, chanting, " _Revertere iuventus_!"

Greylock's eyes widened as he bolted forward, knocking Cedric's wand askew, the magic ricocheting off the ground and toward a castle window. "Cedric! You said the wrong spell!"

Cedric frowned at the other sorcerer. "Excuse me! I think I know—"

"It's _servare_ , not _revertere_!" He gasped when he saw the magic bounce off the windows and zoom back in their direction. "Duck!"

"Huh?" Cedric and Greylock didn't quite react in time, and they were both hit with the magic, knocking them backwards onto the ground.

Sofia gasped and moved quickly over to her friends. "Mr. Cedric? Mr. Greylock? Are you okay?"

Baileywick blinked as he observed the backfired spell's effects. "Oh, my…"

When the magic cleared, smaller versions of the sorcerers now looked up at the three children and the steward.

Greylock looked down, seeing he was much closer to the ground than normal, and he glared at Cedric. "CEDRIC!"

Cedric couldn't help the laugh that came upon hearing the childish growl from his friend. "S-Sorry! Ahh! My voice!" He whined. "Not again!"

To be continued…

A/N: Yep! I think this deserves to be a chapter story. :D And look for chapter two sometime later this week. I already have an idea of what I want to happen, and this story will _not_ be super long either. By the way, thank you all for the kind reviews recently from "Dancing Through Life" and "101," and even from "Shaken" and before. They make me happy. :) I'm planning to get "Shadows" up soon, and that story probably _will_ be a bit longer… We'll see. I'm working out my plans, so fingers crossed. :D And I think this is a record for me… Is this really three stories/chapters in one day? Ha, pretty neat. All right, later, everyone! Have a good week!

~AquaTurquoise


	2. Some Things Never Change

Forever Young

Summary: During a magical mishap, Cedric and Greylock both turn into little kids again. To keep them out of trouble, Baileywick begrudgingly looks after them while Sofia, Amber, and James try to figure out how to get the sorcerers back to normal.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Sofia the First!"

A/N: So I decided this will be the second and final chapter. Lol. After my next story, which is a secret for now (hehe), "Shadow" will get all of my attention for a while. I wanted to make this chapter nice, short, and sweet. So here we go! (Oh, and to Luiz4200: This has happened before in one of my earlier stories: "Youthful.")

"Well, _now_ what are we supposed to do?" Greylock asked miserably as he folded his arms with a pouting face. "I haven't been this short since…the _last_ time I was this age!"

Sofia giggled as she circled both of the half-pint sorcerers, and a smile broke out on her face. "You're our ages now!"

Cedric sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Perfect… How are we supposed to do our investigation in Rudistan if we can't even see over a counter?"

"We're not _that_ short, Cedric," Greylock returned with a roll of his eyes. He glanced toward the other children. "Princess Sofia, would you and Princess Amber and Prince James do us a grand favor, and try to find the reverse spell for this? We still have a job to do and a limited time to do it, so we must go today."

Amber grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "Leave it to us. We know exactly what we're doing."

James blinked at her, a dubious look on his face. "We do?"

"…Sofia knows exactly what we're doing," the blonde girl corrected as her younger sister smiled at her.

"Uhh…" Cedric shrugged as the other children gave him imploring looks. "I suppose… Just be careful."

Sofia nodded. "We will! I think I know where to find the reverse spell." Last time this happened to Cedric, they'd had to make a potion, so finding the correct _spell_ might take a bit longer. "When will you two be back?"

"Give us a few hours," Greylock responded as Baileywick motioned for a flying coach.

"Okay."

Cedric, Baileywick, and Greylock piled into the coach and took off as the Enchancian children headed off to find the spell they needed.

Along the way, Baileywick sighed as the two sorcerers—or small nuisances, as he'd come to call them in his mind—continued to bicker and shove each other. Granted, he didn't see much difference between now and when they were actually adults, but for some reason, the poor steward had all but reached his limit with them.

"Give it back, Greylock!" little Cedric shouted as he reached forward, attempting to grab his wand.

Little Greylock snorted in retort and grinned. "Come and get it, _Ceddy-kins_!"

"Grr! Baileywick! Greylock stole my wand!"

The brown-haired sorcerer snickered. "Seriously?! You're going to whine to Baileywick?"

Baileywick sighed and turned around from his position near the coachman. "Cedric! Greylock!" He frowned when the boys stopped their motions and stared at him with wide eyes, not used to his voice being raised. "If you two don't straighten up right this minute, I'll have this coach turned around and we'll head straight back to Enchancia."

"B-But," Greylock began, shrinking back under the man's pointed glare, "we need to investigate the castle to see if Slickwell did anything…bad…to it."

"Well, then, I suggest you start acting more like your _actual_ ages instead of your current physical ages. Greylock, give Cedric back his wand. And Cedric, stop poking Greylock. That's probably why he stole your wand in the first place."

"Okay," the sorcerers relented at the same time as they exchanged half-hearted apologies, Cedric scooting to one side of the coach after having retrieved his wand.

"Good. Now not another word." He turned around and sighed, rolling his eyes. "And people ask me why I never had children…?"

Back at the castle, James and Amber made faces as they entered Cedric's workshop, which looked a bit unkempt at the moment. They looked toward Sofia for an explanation.

"Don't ask," she pleaded with a sigh. "Let's just say when Mr. Greylock comes over and starts bugging Mr. Cedric, things tend to get a bit…out of order."

Amber glanced up, noticing a pair of socks dangling from the ceiling. "I see that…" She shrugged. "So what exactly are we looking for?"

"A spell to reverse the youth spell placed on them." She reached up to the spell book Cedric had left open and set it on the table before her siblings. "We could probably use the one he used…um…" She smiled secretively as she nodded toward an oblivious James, who seemed particularly distracted by a glowing liquid in a vial. She gave Amber a pointed look.

"Oh, right…" She smiled guiltily, remembering the dilemma last year with James turning into a toddler. "Well, I suppose that might be a good idea… Do you remember the spell?"

"I think so." She flipped through the pages for a few minutes before finally locating exactly what she needed. "I got it!" She looked around and located a piece of parchment and a quill, quickly scribbling the spell onto the paper. "Okay, when Mr. Cedric and Mr. Greylock get back, we have the reverse spell to fix their… _little problem_." She giggled.

Amber rolled her eyes before smiling. "As clever as always, I see," she quipped.

Currently in Rudistan, Greylock led Baileywick and Cedric around the castle, pointing out various artifacts and delivering various tidbits of information about Slickwell that he figured they needed to know…

"…And I don't know why he bothered being a steward, because he wasn't very clean," Greylock continued babbling as he tried to get used to his short legs. "Granted, he did have this neat trick where he could rip a tablecloth from under a stack of porcelain cups without them ever breaking, and—"

"Greylock," Baileywick interrupted kindly, so as not to have a repeat of his mini outburst in the coach. "As fascinating as this is, I thought we were looking for clues of Slickwell's potential 'comebacks' or something, not talking about his parlor trick abilities."

"Yes, well, I'm just trying to make conversation. Since Cedric isn't saying much, that is…"

Cedric folded his arms defiantly. "I'm merely anticipating turning back to normal," he grumbled. "But _no_ , we have to play _royal detectives_ and determine a criminal's crummy state of mind."

Baileywick chuckled. "Be patient, Cedric. As strange as this seems, I think Greylock has the best of intentions. The last thing we need is Slickwell living up to his name…"

The mini sorcerer rolled his eyes. "You just don't want him coming after your job again!"

"Naturally." The silver-haired man shrugged. "Then again, I'm not the one whose job is currently at stake. As it is, _I_ can see over counters…"

Cedric growled. "Very funny, Baileywick."

Searching while in their current states proved draining for the mini sorcerers. They were tired, cranky, and inconsolable for the most part. Even Baileywick was exhausted trying to deal with them. Deciding to postpone their research until the next weekend (when the castle would be clear due to a family event), the two sorcerers and steward headed back to Enchancia.

"About time you guys showed up!" James exclaimed as he saw the three castle workers exiting the flying coach. "We've been waiting forever!"

Amber rolled her eyes. "It's been four hours…"

"We've been waiting _four hours_!"

Sofia giggled. "Ignore him. He's still mad that we gave him broccoli disguised as a lollipop."

Baileywick raised his eyebrows at her. "How did you manage to do that?"

"Magic, of course!" She winked and held up her wand. "Mr. Cedric…or…Mini Mr. Cedric…?" She giggled as her mentor gave her a tired stare. "I found your reverse spell!"

"Wonderful!" Greylock declared. "Please do change us back. I miss being tall."

"You're not even that tall," Cedric remarked with a smirk.

Baileywick sighed. "Please hurry, Sofia. I can't take their arguing anymore…"

"How do you think _I_ feel? I listen to it all the time." She grinned and aimed the wand at the two sorcerers. " _Biggicus growamuss, this spell undoitus_!"

Amber laughed. "That's got to be one of the silliest spells I've heard."

James shrugged. "But it worked." He pointed toward the two now-grown sorcerers.

Cedric stretched and sighed happily. "Ah, that's more like it."

Greylock grinned over at his friend. "So! I say we get our heads together and plot out a map of the Rudistan castle, highlighting key areas where Slickwell may have hidden anything of interest."

"That's a good idea, Greylock. You know what's an even better idea?" He turned on his heel. "How about skipping the plotting and taking the rest of the day off?"

"Even better…" He smirked sneakily, reached his hand into his coat momentarily, and then tapped Cedric on the shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" He then took off running.

Cedric seemed utterly confused by this motion. "I'm not chasing you, Greylock. Forget it."

Amber raised an eyebrow at him. "Even if he just left a blue handprint on your robe?"

"WHAT?!" He glanced at his left shoulder and saw there, in all its glittering glory, the shiniest blue handprint he'd ever seen. He growled. "GREYLOCK!" He then took off running after the other sorcerer.

Baileywick sighed and smiled, shaking his head. "Well, I can say one thing for them: they sure make things more interesting…"

The end

A/N: Hey, Royal Detective! ;) Hope you caught the mini shout-out in the story. :D Thanks for all you say and do. I appreciate you! And thanks to everyone else as well! You all make things so interesting! Hope you enjoyed this. I know I loved writing it. And now I'll be working on "Shadow" and another story as well, which will come out before "Shadow," so stay tuned. If all goes well, it'll be up some time tomorrow! :) ~AquaTurquoise


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